Filling pharmaceutical prescriptions and non-drug product orders has traditionally been done one order at a time. For example, for prescriptions, a pharmacist takes the prescription (order) written by a medical doctor, and types out a label for a bottle (container), and counts out the correct number of pills (product) to fill the prescription and places the pills in the bottle. This method of filling orders is labor intensive and may be both expensive and prone to error. Some pharmacies such as Internet-based pharmacies need to fill many thousands of orders each day to keep up with the demand for orders. The traditional method of filling orders is inadequate for Internet-based pharmacies.
Automated container filling machines have been invented that automate the process of filing containers with a product. Some of the automated container filling machines are capable of filling many thousands of containers a day with product. The product may be prescription pills, non-drug products, liquids, pre-wrapped products, etc. Automated container filling machines typically use a conveyor belt that moves containers for the product to different stations for performing part of the order filling service such as dispensing the product or attaching a label to the container. Instead of placing containers (for example, a prescription bottle) directly on the conveyor belt, the containers may be transported by a container carrier that provides stability for the container and presents a standard size for the conveyor belt to process. Usually, a container carrier transported by the conveyor belt will move a single container from station to station for filling the order. For example, the container carrier may be transported to a labeling station that labels the container (for example a prescription label for a bottle) and associates the container carrier and the labeled container, and then to a dispensing station for dispensing the proper kind and number of product (for example pills) into the labeled container, and then to a station where a person (for example a pharmacist) quickly checks that the product matches the order, then to a station for putting a cap on the container, and finally to a station for collecting all the containers that belong to a single order for shipping.
A conveyor belt approach has proven successful as it permits flexibility in designing stations for performing services in filling the orders. For example, a conveyor belt approach permits a station to be added where the containers are filled by hand by a worker. This may be helpful because machines for dispensing the product may be expensive and limited in the number of different types of product that they can dispense and there may be many types of product that are rarely requested. So, it may be more cost effective to have a worker fill the order for some rarely requested product.
The conveyor belt approach may be difficult to implement without container carriers because some containers are fragile and tip over easily. The container carriers must be durable so that they can be used many thousands of times and physically manipulated by the automated container filling machine. For example, the automated container filling machine may need to pick up, push, shove, and stop container carriers while the conveyor belt continues to operate. When the container carriers are stopped a container carrier may collide with the container carrier in front of it and generate a lot of noise.
Further, the container carriers cannot be large as the automated prescription filling machine may need to be contained in a small space, and because larger container carriers would reduce the number of containers that could be filled in an hour. And, since workers may be part of a station for servicing a container carrier, the automated container filling machine needs to be quiet to provide a suitable work environment for the workers.
Thus there is a need in the art for a pill bottle transport carrier that is durable, capable of being physically manipulated by an automated container filling machine, relatively small in comparison to the size of the container, and that does not generate a lot of noise when colliding with other container carriers.